News headlines in March 2009, page 26

East Timor's justice minister says she will file a civil liability case against newspaper editor Jose Belo, if criminal defamation charges do not make it in court.

Rights activists in the United States are urging their newly-elected government to support global initiatives aimed at protecting women’s rights.

As if the country’s draconian lese-majeste laws are not harsh enough, Thailand’s thought police have another weapon, the computer crimes law, to curtail the space for free expression.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum has set its sights on becoming a regional parliament with law-making powers. The body was established in 1997 to create a platform for the region's legislators to share knowledge and experiences in governance.

A new report on how the United States should 'resist and deter' Iran's alleged ambitions to acquire a nuclear-weapons capability by a think tank closely tied to the so-called 'Israel Lobby' has been endorsed by two key officials who are expected to exercise major influence on Iran policy in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.

The steps of the Cape Town High Court, a frequent site of protest, have seen it all, but Mar. 6, was the first time, sex workers openly up stood up for their rights there.

Heather Bennett, the wife of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) treasurer, Roy Leslie Bennett, says the party has let her husband down.

The Sudanese government has expelled 10 aid agencies, accusing them of supplying exaggerated evidence against President Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which has issued a warrant for his arrest.

Looking back, Mario Maranhão concludes that being a conservationist was always in his nature. When he had to hunt for a living, he 'only killed enough to eat, and never went after the female animals,' he says. Five years ago, he took on the mission of rescuing turtles that hatch near Alter do Chão, a natural paradise located in eastern Amazonia.

Yet another of Colombia’s top paramilitary leaders was extradited to the U.S. Thursday to be brought up on drug trafficking charges despite the objections of some rights groups and questions raised by Colombian politicians visiting Washington.